Declarative Programming using Nested Structures

In this chapter we are going to learn how to build declarative programming world using nested structures on the top of object oriented.

We will learn about

  • Creating Objects inside Lists

  • Composition and Returning Objects and Lists by Reference

  • Executing code after the end of object access

  • Declarative Programming on the top of Object-Oriented

Creating Objects inside Lists

We can create objects inside lists during list definition. Also we can add objects to the list at any time using the Add() function or the + operator.

Example:

alist = [new point, new point, new point]       # create list contains three objects

alist + [1,2,3]                                 # add another item to the list

see "Item 4 is a list contains 3 items" + nl
see alist[4]

add(alist , new point)
alist + new point

alist[5] { x = 100 y = 200 z = 300 }
alist[6] { x = 50 y = 150 z = 250 }

see "Object inside item 5" + nl
see alist[5]
see "Object inside item 6" + nl
see alist[6]

class point x y z

Output:

Item 4 is a list contains 3 items
1
2
3
Object inside item 5
x: 100.000000
y: 200.000000
z: 300.000000
Object inside item 6
x: 50.000000
y: 150.000000
z: 250.000000

Composition and Returning Objects and Lists by Reference

When we use composition and have object as one of the class attributes, when we return that object it will be returned by reference.

if the caller used the assignment operator, another copy of the object will be created.

The caller can avoid using the assignment operator and use the returned reference directly to access the object.

The same is done also if the attribute is a list (not object).

Note

Objects and Lists are treated using the same rules. When you pass them to function they are passed by reference, when you return them from functions they are returned by value except if it’s an object attribute where a return by reference will be done.

Example:

o1 = new Container
myobj = o1.addobj()     # the assignment will create another copy
myobj.x = 100
myobj.y = 200
myobj.z = 300
see o1.aobjs[1]         # print the object inside the container
see myobj               # print the copy

Class Container
        aObjs = []
        func addobj
                aobjs + new point
                return aobjs[len(aobjs)]        # return object by reference

Class point
        x  = 10
        y  = 20
        z  = 30

Output:

x: 10.000000
y: 20.000000
z: 30.000000
x: 100.000000
y: 200.000000
z: 300.000000

Example(2):

func main
        o1 = new screen  {
                content[point()] {
                        x = 100
                        y = 200
                        z = 300
                }
                content[point()] {
                        x = 50
                        y = 150
                        z = 250
                }
        }
        see o1.content[1]
        see o1.content[2]

Class Screen
        content = []
        func point
                content + new point
                return len(content)

Class point
        x  = 10
        y  = 20
        z  = 30

Output:

x: 100.000000
y: 200.000000
z: 300.000000
x: 50.000000
y: 150.000000
z: 250.000000

Example(3):

func main
        o1 = New Screen  {
                point() {               # access the object using reference
                        x = 100
                        y = 200
                        z = 300
                }
                point() {               # access the object using reference
                        x = 50
                        y = 150
                        z = 250
                }
        }
        see o1.content[1]
        see o1.content[2]

Class Screen
        content = []
        func point
                content + new point
                return content[len(content)]    # return the object by reference

Class point x=10 y=20 z=30

Output:

x: 100.000000
y: 200.000000
z: 300.000000
x: 50.000000
y: 150.000000
z: 250.000000

Executing code after the end of object access

We can access an object using { } to use object attributes and methods.

if the object contains a method called BraceEnd(), it will be executed before the end of the object access.

Example:

New Point { See "How are you?" + nl }

Class Point x y z
        func braceend
                see "I'm fine, Thank you!" + nl

Output:

How are you?
I'm fine, Thank you!

Declarative Programming on the top of Object-Oriented

The next features enable us to build and use declarative programming environment using nested structures on the top of object oriented

  • using {} to access the object attributes and methods

  • BraceEnd() Method

  • returning objects by reference

  • Setter/Getter Methods (optional)

Example:

# Declarative Programming (Nested Structures)

Screen()
{

        point()
        {
                x = 100
                y = 200
                z = 300
        }

        point()
        {
                x = 50
                y = 150
                z = 250
        }
}

# Functions and Classes

Func screen return new screen

Class Screen

        content = []

        func point
                content + new point
                return content[len(content)]

        func braceend
                see "I have " + len(content) + " points!"

Class point

        x=10 y=20 z=30

        func braceend
                see self

Output:

x: 100.000000
y: 200.000000
z: 300.000000
x: 50.000000
y: 150.000000
z: 250.000000
I have 2 points!

More Beautiful Code

We can get better results and a more beautiful code when we can avoid writing () after the method name when the methods doesn’t take parameters. This feature is not provided directly by the Ring language because there is a difference between object methods and object attributes. We can get a similar effect on the syntax of the code when we define a getter method for the object attribute. For example instead of defining the point() method. we will define the point attribute then the getpoint() method that will be executed once you try to get the value of the point attribute. since we write the variable name directly without () we can write point instead of point() and the method getpoint() will create the object and return the object reference for us.

Example:

new Container
{
        Point
        {
                x=10
                y=20
                z=30
        }
}

Class Container
        aObjs = []
        point
        func getpoint
                aObjs + new Point
                return aObjs[len(aObjs)]

Class Point x y z
        func braceend
                see "3D Point" + nl + x + nl + y + nl + z + nl

Output

3D Point
10
20
30